Cleaning machine



Sept. 2,1958

Filed Feb. 18, 1955 A. F. HAYTER I 2,849,746

CLEANING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mwzzvrox. ARCHIE F'HAYTEQ BY 5, 77 1&0 A-r-ToR NE 7 Sept. 2, 1958 A. F. HAYTER 9,

CLEANING MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

I n I FIG. 7 F G. 4

62 51 I I v FIHIIILIHIHI LL53 U U INVENTOR. AECH/EFHA YTEE FIG. 6 7 BY 77 I%WJ::KTTORNEY United States atfiht O rice 2,849,746 CLEANING'MACHINE ArcliiFlHayter,SoutlrBeloit,Ill.. I Application February 1.8,;1955;:Serial"No. 489 1 1: claim. (31. 15-311 This invention relates: to cleaning machines a'nd findsparticular utility incleaningdust mops or similar: articles.

This is a continuation-impart-ofmy co-pendingrappli-i cation, Serial Number 4 38 669 filcdJune 23; 1954; eria titled-DustMop Cleaner, now abandoned.

The type of dust mop. that is frequently usediirr the: maintenance: of schools,- hospitals', industrialr buildings, etc., is of considerable length. In use, these mops-re quire frequent cleaning-and to? do so'convenientlyg, and without disseminating the: dirt back into the air, has: been a troublesome problem: in the: past. the frequent cleaningv required of. these mopsisa major. factor in shorteningthe-life of the'mop and, .more spe-- cifically, the life of the fabricsofwhich the mopriscomposed.

It is therefore an: object=of this. invention to provide an improved cleaning machine which cleans in a highly efiicient manner and without excessive beating of the article to be cleaned. I

It is another object of' this invention to provide a cleaning machinewhichis capable Of cIeanin'g-"a mop, beginning at one of its sides, progressively acrossits width so as to exposeeachof-the'fabrics-individually'tb the cleaning action andtherebypreclude the dirt from being trapped in any pockets that may otherwise he formed by the fabric.

It is an object of this invention to provide a cleaning machine having means which willclean a mop, or similar articles, with only the necessary amount of fabric agitation or beating and which will i also cause an air blast to pass through the fabric concurrently to insure a thorough cleaning job.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cleaning machine which will quickly, easily, and efficiently clean mops of various lengths and which is simple in construction and economical to manufacture.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a cleaning machine in which the fabrics of the article to be cleaned are fed to the cleaning beater by the action of gravity, and progressively from one of its sides to the other.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent as this disclosure progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of a machine embodying this invention.

Furthermore,

2,849,746 i Patented Sept. 2, 19 58 Figure 7 is a cross scctional view of a typical mop.

Referring more particularly'tothedrawings, a mobile support frame 10 is provided having a pair of transport wheelsdl, 12, a stand"1"'4'and a=handle portion 15. The entire machine is comparativelysmall and lightin weight and can easily be moved about. v

A- cylindrical casing I8 is secured-to the frame 1'0 and has an opening 20 across its entire length defined b'y'the edgesof th'efcasing 18 which ter'miil'atein flanges 2'2 2 3% The/opening 20,is located on the top side of the casing 18" and" flanges 22,23, are spaced apart adistancesufii cient to accommodate the entire 'widtho'f a as shown best in- Figure 6. Guard bars 25, 26 are" secured" at spaced locations between flanges 22, 23 and serve to" prevent the mop from being insertedtoo-far within the The'fl beater shaft- 28 is rotatably" mounted in' bearings 29 3t whicli are-secured' to endWa'lIs 3'Z, 33 respectively of the' casing 18; A pulley3'5-is secured to slia'ftZS and is driver'r- 'byfan electric motor 37 which' is rigidly mounted airframe 10'. A pair of'driver pulleys 39; 40,tra'nsmit Figure 2 is a plan view of the machineshown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the machine shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale, of the beater.

Figure 5 is a modification of the beater paddle shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an end view, in section, taken on line 66 of Figure 1, showing a mop, in relation to the beater, while it is being cleaned.

' blower.

and-the -pulley 44 of suction fan shaft'f4 5, respectively;

Suction fan 47"is' in communicationwiththeinterior off casing 18 through the duct 48 and acts to suck the-debris lad'ened air from an outletpassageway in'the form of a manifold 49in the casing 18' and then blow' it through the conduit 50 into'bag 51 which is detachably secured at their" outer ends by a paddle'su'pport' member" in the form of bar 54 which are coextensive in length'with'tli'e" entire beater assembly. The shaft'z sj spokes"53and'bars 5'4allform a rigid, integral, rotarystructure; Secured to each member 54 andext'e'nding' outw'ardlytherefrom along their entire length are'fiexible plates or' paddles 55: or 55'. I-have found sheetrubber materialto he' very" satisfactory and, as shown-'- irrFigures" '4 and 'Sfj' these paddles 55 a'nd 5'5 have'rad'ially' extendirigslits Sher. notches 57 respectively, Paddles ofwanous forms and width" are interchangeable'--de1;iendiiig on" the nature of the article to be cleaned and may be readily replaced when worn. For this purpose the paddles are detachably secured to paddle support members 54 by means of backing strips 58 and bolt and nut means 60, which extend through registering apertures in the member 54, flexible plates 55 or 55' and backing strips 58.

Obviously the flexible paddle material is subjected to a slapping action as heating takes place and, with the construction and mounting above described, it is securely gripped and supported along its entire length. This beater is light in weight and simple in construction, yet highly efficient as will appear more fully hereinafter.

As best shown in Figure 6, the peripheral edge of the entire beater assembly comes to a predetermined distance from the guards 25, 26 and this distance remains the same, for any given set of flexible material 55, regardless of the speed at which the heater is driven. In other words, centrifugal force has nothing to do with the beating action of the paddles. The paddles, because of their width in a radial direction, act also as a fan or In the process of loosening the dust from the hanging fabric ropes by a gentle, steady and even beating action, an airstream or air blast is forced through and around the fabric ropes to carry the loosened dust away from the mop and into proximity with the manifold 49.

A typical construction of many mops is shown in Figure 7, and they are usually comprised of relatively long fabric ropes or strands 64 along either outer side while the center fabric strands 66 are shorter. If the mop were cleaned from both sides simultaneously, as in many prior art structures, the longer ropes at either side are brought together at their free ends during the cleaning process and actually enclose the shorter center ropes. It is impossible, under these circumstances, to thoroughly loosen and remove dust from the center ropes which are enclosed by the pockets so formed by the longer outer ropes.

In the device forming the subject matter of this invention, the opening 20 is located directly above the beater and a, distance away from it, and, as shown in Figure 6, the mop, or at least a portion of it, is first laid across the edgeof opening 20, i. e., the flange 22 The mop. is then moved to the right, as viewed in Figure 6, the main body 62 of the mop being supported by guards 25, 26.

The beater 52 rotates in the direction shown by the curvilinear arrow in Figures 1 and 6. When the cleaning action commences, the long ropes at the right edge of the mopcome into contact with the paddles first and then as the mop is moved to the right it is cleaned progressively across its width. The individual ropes fall into contact with the beater paddles and are individually and thoroughly agitated as they hang freely in the path of the beater. By slitting the flexible sheets, as previously described, more thorough contact with the rope fabric is assured.

The speed of the beater may be varied by conventional means but the cleaning action of the beater remains the same, except, of course, as to intensity of beating and amount of air blast. Only a beating action of sufiicient vigorousness is used and an increased mop life of about 30 percent has been enjoyed by the use of this machine.

The machine is compact, the diameter of the beater being approximately inches. With such a heater, speeds of an elongated head including flexible depending elongated plural parallel rows of fabric strands including a pair of outer rows of greater length than an inner row; a mobile cleaning machine comprising a support frame including an elongated horizontally disposed closed cylindrical casing including a longitudinal slot extending the length of said casing and chordally through the upper surface of said, casing and of a width sufficient to accommodate the Width of a mop being cleaned, a rotor assembly journaled axially of saidicasing and including a plurality of cir'cumferentially spaced and radially extending flexible resilient detachable paddles each extending longitudinally .of the casing and terminating adjacent but spaced from the inner periphery of said casing, each of said paddles including longitudinally spaced radial slots extending into the longitudinal edges of said paddles for combing the mop strands, suction means communicating with the interior of said casing for collecting debris from a dust mop being cleaned, and power means operatively connected to said suction means and rotor assembly for simultaneously operating the same, said casing including guard bar means extending transversely of said longitudinal opening for supporting a mop head in movement transversely of said longitudinal slot for progressively orienting the strands of the lower face of the mop head in chordal relation in the path of rotation of said flexible paddles whereby the paddles progressively force air through said strands'and knock debris therefrom, the casing including upwardly extending flanges at the longitudinal edges of the slot in the casing for guiding the brush in its movement transversely of said slot and the ends of the slot being free of projections permitting a mop being cleaned to be moved longitudinally of said slot past the ends of the casing without obstruction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany June 26, 1914 

